By Nathan Grayson on August 22nd, 2012 at 8:00 am.
Imagine if I were to write a [CENSORED] where you couldn’t understand [CENSORED] that was going [CENSORED] because [CENSORED] bars were everywhere for no apparent [CENSORED]. Wouldn’t that be [CENSORED]? And yet, that’s exactly what the latest trailer of Blacklight [CENSORED] Zombie Studios’ Special Forces: Team X does, probably because [CENSORED]. It’s a weird choice, to say [CENSORED]. Watch the parts of it that are actually visible after the [CENSORED]. Break. Break is what I said there. Gosh, these things are annoying.
Happily, those very insistent bars won’t in any way be present in the actual game. So said Zombie Studios: “It doesn’t [have the bars]. We just did that for the trailer for fun.” Beyond that, it looks like a fairly standard third-person blast-’em-up, but with a dollop of cartoon zaniness to top it off. Meanwhile, the ability for both teams to select map tiles sounds fascinating – if only because “100s of map combinations” mean rote map memorization won’t be quite as key to winning the day anymore.
Is that twist enough to carry what looks to be an otherwise solid-but-standard shooter, though? That remains to be seen. If nothing else, Zombie did an excellent job of making tiny tweaks go a long way in Blacklight: Retribution, so there’s reason to be hopeful. Special Forces is slated to drop “this fall,” which is nice. I mean, can you imagine if it ended up in that other fall instead? No one likes that fall. I’ve asked. Somebody even told me it’s a bit of a racist.
22/08/2012 at 08:04 Wodge says:
The question I have is: Did you type in [CENSORED] each time, or did you copy and paste [CENSORED]?
22/08/2012 at 09:23 syndrome says:
No, he opted instead to create the word by doubleclicking in Character Map, then he drag’n'dropped the word all over the place.
22/08/2012 at 09:37 ninjapirate says:
Far too complicated, I think. He simply [CENSORED] it.
22/08/2012 at 08:10 ninjapirate says:
[CENSORED]FACE!
22/08/2012 at 09:03 Nemon says:
What is this I don’t [CENSORED]…
22/08/2012 at 09:11 Tom De Roeck says:
What a [CENSORED].
22/08/2012 at 09:46 Shazbut says:
Old men [CENSORED]
22/08/2012 at 09:59 apocraphyn says:
I never asked for [CENSORED]
22/08/2012 at 10:16 JB says:
I speel my [CENSORED]
22/08/2012 at 10:47 Mr. Mister says:
A [READACTED] has been sighted in [CENSORED]
22/08/2012 at 12:04 westyfield says:
HARD [CENSORED]
22/08/2012 at 13:40 deke913 says:
You [CENSORED] should be ashamed of your [CENSORED] selves.
22/08/2012 at 15:00 The Random One says:
[MEME EXPUNGED]
22/08/2012 at 08:13 Lydia says:
So we’ve finally come to this. Video games about shooting people. No wonder they’ve censored half the trailer.
22/08/2012 at 16:19 The Random One says:
What’s next? Games about stealing cars and soliciting prostitutes? This is a slippery slope I tell you.
22/08/2012 at 22:34 Geen says:
What’s next, blowing peoples heads off, hitting them with a shovel, then pissing on their corpses? Wait a second…
23/08/2012 at 01:37 Sea-Bear says:
You think that’s bad? I’ve heard they’re making a game in which you drop blocks on top of other blocks in an attempt to create solid lines, which disappear once you make them. It’s barbaric.
22/08/2012 at 08:18 Flint says:
The header image and the intro text made me think this would be a shooter where certain parts of the game and HUD (parts of player characters, names, team announcements etc) would occasionally be [censored], leading to a game of constant paranoia and uncertainty over your co-players/opponents and the current game situation and/or an annoying novelty.
22/08/2012 at 08:27 Harlander says:
They’ve made videogames based on Cyberpunk, D&D, the Dark Eye and Shadowrun.
I think it’s high time for one based on Paranoia.
(And before you say “there’s already been one”, I mean a good game based on it)
22/08/2012 at 08:38 sinister agent says:
There’s already been one!
22/08/2012 at 09:24 Simon Hawthorne says:
Yeah but he probably means a good game based on it.
23/08/2012 at 08:34 Harlander says:
Wow, I walked right into that one.
22/08/2012 at 22:35 Geen says:
THE COMPUTER IS YOUR FRIEND. HAPPINESS IS MANDATORY. HAVE A NON-TREASONOUS DAY.
Seriously, fund it. Maybe something sorta like Space Station 13?
22/08/2012 at 08:38 Sian says:
Maybe it’s because I only just got up and am still groggy, but them bars aren’t fun, they are just terribly annoying. Not what I’d call a good trailer.
22/08/2012 at 08:41 Mr. Mister says:
Well, if you find annoying others fun… then they’re just having fun by trolling.
22/08/2012 at 08:56 hamburger_cheesedoodle says:
Given that there is honest-to-gosh text in Blacklight Retribution that -encourages- you to teabag and otherwise taunt people, I would not be surprised to learn that there are trolls at Zombie.
22/08/2012 at 09:12 BryanTrysers says:
Special Faeces!
[CENSORED], sorry. Wrong thread.
22/08/2012 at 09:22 Dan Forever says:
Micro prose?! I thought they died out years ago…
22/08/2012 at 10:23 max pain says:
Glad to see they’re still kicking. Love them for Transport Tycoon.
22/08/2012 at 13:46 deke913 says:
I was thinking this as well. All these years being underground …the light is blinding I bet.
22/08/2012 at 09:23 nofing says:
So, they’ve released a trailer for the German version of the game?
23/08/2012 at 08:45 c-Row says:
Nah, not enough green blood.
22/08/2012 at 09:39 Sheza says:
Oh look, it’s Borderlands meets Team Fortress 2.
22/08/2012 at 13:49 deke913 says:
Yep, between this and B2 and the Darkness2, they need to come up with a more distinctive look if they plan on using cell shading these days. Its hard to see cell shading at all without my mind immediately going to Borderlands.
22/08/2012 at 16:23 The Random One says:
This is why I always say: if you can’t come up with a cheap gimmick to make your game stand out, at least come up with a cheap gimmick to make your trailer stand out.
22/08/2012 at 20:09 tossrStu says:
It’s probably not very PC to admit this, but when it comes to cel shading my go-to “Oh hey, that looks like…” game is Crackdown. Not Borderlands, not XIII, not even Jet Set Radio, but Crackdown.
Man, I love Crackdown.
23/08/2012 at 01:28 PodX140 says:
Agreed with you on this one. For some reason, despite playing LOADS of JSRF, I much more think of crackdown then borderlands or JSRF.
22/08/2012 at 09:40 mondomau says:
Ugh. I love cel-shading as a style, but they have managed to make it look terrible. I wonder if they’re genuinely aiming for a more relaxed game this time round – I really enjoyed Blacklight for a short while, when the servers were flooded with steam newbies offsetting the ‘hardcore’ gameplay, but it pretty much reverted to immature hyper-competitive 13 yr-olds within a month.
22/08/2012 at 09:44 Chris says:
Microprose and Atari, zombie publishers rise from the dead!
22/08/2012 at 09:47 sharks.don't.sleep says:
I smiled when I read Microprose.
The smile vanished when I realised that it’s not a trailer about an upcoming flight sim.
22/08/2012 at 10:57 Syt says:
Well, Microprose did the original Special Forces way back when, a real time tactical top down game where you led a team of – surprise – Special Forces through difficult missions. A bit like a precursor to Commandos.
Needless to say the trailer doesn’t seem to follow those footsteps much.
22/08/2012 at 09:55 Shazbut says:
Microprose, where the COCK is Midwinter 3? Stop faffing about with this nonsense.
22/08/2012 at 12:15 makute says:
Man, the memories…
22/08/2012 at 16:29 The Random One says:
Microprose, where the [CENSORED] is Midwinter 3? Stop [CENSORED] about with this [REDACTED].
22/08/2012 at 15:45 Shooop says:
They should just censor the entire game. Not because it’s offensive in any way, but because it’s so terrible.
22/08/2012 at 16:06 MythArcana says:
Stop all this cell shaded cartoon stupid stuff already. These games are all looking like the same stripped down console ports they truly want to be. Why doesn’t Atari work on getting a decent sequel to Deer Hunter 5 or something?
24/08/2012 at 12:06 Ham Solo says:
Just like any shooter in germany or australia.